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'''''The [[Interpretation ]] of [[Dreams]]''''' is a book by [[Sigmund Freud]], the first edition of which was first published in [[German language|German]] in November 1899 as '''''Die Traumdeutung''''' (though post-dated as 1900 by the publisher). The publication inaugurated the [[theory ]] of [[Freudian ]] [[dream analysis]], which [[Freud ]] believed was the "royal road to the unconscious".

At the beginning of Chapter One, Freud describes his [[work ]] thus:

:''In the following pages, I shall demonstrate that there is a [[psychological ]] [[technique ]] which makes it possible to [[interpret ]] dreams, and that on the application of this technique, every [[dream ]] will reveal itself as a psychological [[structure]], [[full ]] of [[significance]], and one which may be assigned to a specific [[place ]] in the [[psychic ]] activities of the waking [[state]]. Further, I shall endeavour to elucidate the [[processes ]] which underlie the strangeness and obscurity of dreams, and to deduce from these processes the [[nature ]] of the psychic forces whose [[conflict ]] or co-operation is [[responsible ]] for our dreams.''

The book introduces [[Ego, Superego and Id|the Ego]], and describes Freud's theory of the [[unconscious]] with respect to [[dream interpretation]]. Dreams, in Freud's view, were all forms of "[[wish]]-fulfillment" — attempts by the unconscious to resolve a conflict of some sort, whether something [[recent ]] or something from the recessess of the [[past ]] (later in ''[[Beyond the Pleasure Principle]]'', Freud would discuss dreams which did not appear to be wish-fulfillment). However, because the information in the unconscious is in an unruly and often disturbing [[form]], a "[[censor]]" in the [[preconscious ]] will not allow it to [[pass ]] unaltered into the [[conscious]]. During dreams, the preconscious is more lax in this [[duty ]] than in waking hours, but is still attentive: as such, the unconscious must distort and warp the [[meaning ]] of its information to make it through the [[censorship]]. As such, [[images ]] in dreams are often not what they appear to be, according to Freud, and [[need ]] deeper interpretation if they are to inform on the [[structures ]] of the unconscious.

Freud makes his argument by first reviewing previous [[scientific ]] work on dream [[analysis]], which he finds interesting but inadequate. He then describes a [[number ]] of dreams which illustrate his theory. Many of his most important dreams are his own — his method is inanugerated with an analysis of his dream "[[Irma]]'s injection" — but many also come from [[patient ]] [[case ]] studies. Much of Freud's sources for analysis are in [[literature]], and the book is itself as much a [[self]]-conscious attempt at [[literary ]] analysis as it is a psychological study. Freud here also first discusses what would later become the theory of the [[Oedipus complex]].

The initial print run of the book was very low — it took many years to sell out the first 600 copies. Freud revised the book at least eight [[times]], in the [[third ]] edition added an extensive section which treated dream [[symbolism ]] very literally, following the influence of [[Wilhelm Stekel]]. Later [[psychoanalysts ]] have expressed [[frustration ]] with this section, as it encouraged the [[notion ]] that dream interpretation was a straightforward hunt for [[symbols ]] of sex, penises, etc. (Example: "Steep inclines, ladders and stairs, and going up or down [[them]], are [[symbolic ]] representations of the [[sexual ]] act.") These approaches have been largely abandoned in favor of more comprehensive methods{{fact}}.

Widely considered to be his most important contribution to [[psychology]], Freud said of this work, "Insight such as this falls to one's lot but once in a lifetime."

In his [[seminar ]] on the [[ethics ]] of [[psychoanalysis]], [[Lacan ]] sought to clarify Freud’s definition of the unconscious and especially the question of what is [[repressed]].For Freud there can be no unconscious without [[repression]], but what exactly is it that is repressed: [[words]], images, [[feelings]]?

This is always a core of the [[real ]] that is [[missing ]] from [[the symbolic ]] and all [[other ]] representations, images and [[signifiers ]] are no more than attempts to fill this gap.

[[Interpretation of Dreams]], TheEven more than the Studies on [[Hysteria]], written in collaboration with Josef [[Breuer ]] (1895d), or the [[Project ]] for a Scientific Psychology (1950c [1895]), The Interpretation of Dreams may be considered the founding work of psychoanalysis. It was with this book that Freud sought for the first [[time ]] to [[present ]] an overall view of [[mental ]] functioning. Most of its tenets were maintained unchanged throughout Freud's lifetime, and even today the book is considered indispensable to any possible [[theoretical ]] [[progress ]] in psychoanalysis.

Sigmund Freud (1856–1939) is universally considered the ‘‘father’’ of psychoanalysis, and many date the [[birth ]] of [[psychoanalytic ]] theory from the 1899 publication of The Interpretation of Dreams (copyright 1900). Although Freudian theory, since its inception, has been relentlessly attacked from all sides, critics and proponents alike agree that Freud’s [[ideas ]] have exerted a profound influence on twentieth-century [[thought ]] and [[culture]].

Throughout The Interpretation of Dreams, Freud analyzes his own dreams as examples to prove his new theory of the psychology of dreams. Freud makes a [[distinction ]] between the ‘‘manifest‘‘[[manifest]],’’ or surface-level, dream [[content ]] and the ‘‘latent‘‘[[latent]],’’ or unconscious, ‘‘dream thoughts’’ expressed through the special ‘‘language’’ of dreams. He posits that all dreams [[represent ]] the fulfillment of a wish on the part of the dreamer and maintains that even [[anxiety ]] dreams and nightmares are expressions of unconscious desires. Freud explains that the [[process ]] of ‘‘censorship’’ in dreams causes a ‘‘distortion’’ of the dream content; thus, what appears to be trivial nonsense in a dream, can, through the process of analysis, be shown to express a coherent set of ideas. The ‘‘dream work’’ is the process by which the [[mind ]] condenses, distorts, and translates ‘‘dream thoughts’’ into dream content. Freud proposes that the ultimate [[value ]] of dream analysis may be in revealing the hidden workings of the [[unconscious mind]].

The Interpretation of Dreams presents Freud’s early theories in [[regard ]] to the nature of the unconscious dream psychology, the significance of [[childhood ]] experiences, the psychic process of ‘‘censorship,’’ the ‘‘hieroglyphic’’ [[language ]] of dreams, and the method he called ‘‘psychoanalysis.’’